Shop to Buy Wine Online

November 19, 2008

Among the myriad of avenues upon which America shops for wine, what often gets lost is actually what the customer wants to buy. Sure, Kendall Jackson Chardonnay, Beringer White Zinfandel and Yellow Swill Shiraz sell millions of cases, but what do wine buyers with discriminating palates want to buy? What are they shopping for? What influences their shopping patterns? Labels/brands and perceived prestige/cachet. It’s pretty hard to sell someone shopping for wine online a flavor, at least at this level of the computer’s development. The wines that people want to buy are not perceived values because of their pricepoints (i.e.,”values”). They shop for wines that are a perceived lifestyle enhancement value. Shopping for prestige, or cachet, goes on even in a down economy. Wine shoppers want to buy wine that, even at modest pricepoints, delivers prestigious lifestyle enhancement. Shop for wine specials, develop a bond of trust with your wine seller and buy more wine. Somewhere, a fine wine at your price is waiting.